No rumour over coronavirus will be tolerated: Maleque

BSS

19th February, 2020 06:27:21

Health and Family Welfare Minister Zahid Maleque warned that no rumour over the coronavirus would be tolerated in the country as a vested quarter is trying to spread rumour over the deadly virus that broke out in Wuhan, China.

“A vested quarter is trying to spread rumour over the coronavirus in the country. They are trying to spread rumour about consuming chicken, the mask use and the people, who have recently returned home from abroad,” he told reporters while visiting a newly-constructed building of the Directorate General of Nursing and Midwifery (DGNM) in the city’s Mohakhali area.

Mentioning that the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) is giving updates and suggestions regularly on the coronavirus, Maleque said people should not pay heed to any rumour over the virus and must follow the DGHS’s suggestions to prevent the deadly virus.

Replying to a question, he said the government is fully prepared to prevent coronavirus, while over 2 lakh passengers have so far been screened for coronavirus at different ports of the country.

“A total of 72 suspected people, who returned home recently from abroad, were examined but no one was found virus-infected. In any case, once anyone is found infected with coronavirus, the health sector is ready to provide treatment for him or her,” he said.

Noting that a good number of nurses are entering the country’s nursing sector each year, the health minister said at present there are 376 nursing institutes in the country.

“Around 20,000 nurses are joining the nursing services from these institutes every year,” he added.

Health Education and Family Welfare Division Secretary Md Ali Noor and DGNM director general Siddiqua Akhter, among others, accompanied the minister during the visit.